*Master Humphrey's Clock* was an ambitious weekly literary magazine published by Dickens himself. Lasting only from 1840 to 1841, it spun off some major works, including *The Old Curiosity Shop* and this collection of stories and sketches. The narrator is Master Humphrey , not "churlish" and not a "misanthrope", who describes his daily life and his encounters with vivid characters including Mr. Pickwick. The clock is his old companion, where he stores manuscripts.